


Blind Corridor

by NebulousMistress



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Gen, Once a Teacher Always a Teacher, Stalking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-12 03:14:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29253546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NebulousMistress/pseuds/NebulousMistress
Summary: RX-3081 was not surprised. He'd annoyed the Grand Marshal and now there was an assassin.But why is this assassin sobadat it?
Kudos: 4





	Blind Corridor

**Author's Note:**

> [RX-3081](https://twitter.com/RxCadre) has been bad and annoyed [Grand Marshal Hux](https://twitter.com/MotivationalHux). He expects assassins.
> 
> Heavily inspired by the gifs used [here](https://twitter.com/RxCadre/status/1358201229629935616) in the twitter RP.

RX-3081 walked the corridor of the  _ Finalizer. _ He wore full armor, though that might not have been a good idea right now. He stuck out like a target. Normally the black armor was a badge of pride, proof of strength and skill. But recently he’d done some admittedly dumb things. Poking at the Grand Marshal was much more dangerous than poking at the General, which itself had been much more dangerous than poking at the fellow sniper. But their skill sets had diverged. Where the Grand Marshal had a talent for leadership trapped in the mind of an engineer, RX-3081 had been much less ambitious.

Entire cadres of Stormtroopers benefited from his lack of ambition. But sometimes he forgot how far behind that lack of ambition left him.

Now he was being shadowed with intent.

RX-3081 could feel it. His shadow was not very good at it. They had awkward footsteps, heavy and tentative. Their armor didn’t fit, the plates grinding and clattering where they shouldn’t. And this shadow had followed him for the last fifteen minutes.

He wasn’t going to look around. He was far from a rookie at this. RX-3081 taught courses in shadowing targets in the field, he knew exactly how terrible this one really was at the job.

Clearly not one of his students, then.

RX-3081 considered his options as he forced himself to seem untroubled while he listened. He was armed only with the knife strapped to one thigh. He was being followed by a potentially hostile shadow. He could easily lose such an unskilled shadow, but that would mean leaving someone like this to roam free on the  _ Finalizer. _ He couldn’t do that. He could confront his shadow in front of an audience but that would lead to being detained and he didn’t want to get blamed for anything he didn’t do.

A third option presented itself and RX-3081 turned down a lesser used corridor, making sure he was naturally visible doing so. Sure enough, the heavy clattering of his shadow followed. There were fewer people in the reactor access corridors, fewer people to act as witnesses. Fewer people to get in the way.

He turned another corner into a small access corridor. It was a common enough shortcut for the engineers and luckily it was empty.

His shadow changed its movement, nervous and excited and trying to sneak close. They thought to trap him. They didn’t realize this was RX-3081’s trap.

RX-3081 pretended he didn’t hear his shadow until…

He ducked just as the blaster bolt shot where his shoulder had been. RX-3081 spun around to face his attacker, a Stormtrooper in white with F-11D blaster rifle in hand. The Stormtrooper raised the blaster again to fire.

RX-3081 lunged forward, grabbing the F-11 by the barrel. He yanked, pulling the Stormtrooper off balance. He punched once, breaking the seal on the Stormtrooper’s helmet.

The Stormtrooper let go of the blaster and pulled a sidearm. RX-3081 tossed the blaster away, he didn’t need it, and instead grabbed the Stormtrooper’s gun arm by the wrist before slamming it against the wall.

RX-3081 yanked the Stormtrooper’s helm off and punched once before pulling his knife from its sheath. Ignoring all finesse he stabbed up then down, sliding the blade into the seam between pauldron and breastplate. The blade bit in and the Stormtrooper screamed as the blade sank to the hilt.

Then RX-3081 had the chance to take stock of the situation.

First, he did not recognize this Stormtrooper at all. He didn’t belong to any cadre he’d trained.

Second, this was not this Stormtrooper’s armor. It didn’t fit. The helmet seal broke too easily. The seam between pauldron and breastplate was wide enough to stab through. The plates made too much noise. The boots didn’t even fit.

Third, he was alone in a reactor access shaft with someone who’d tried to kill him. Poorly, true, but the point remained.

And now he had to file an incident report. Or just kill the idiot.

Nah, killing him would cause too much paperwork. Besides. RX-3081 looked back on the entire shadowing incident. This hadn’t been a real hit. This was a formality. A training exercise. Nobody this unskilled could have expected to win.

RX-3081 activated his helm’s internal radio.

“ _ Finalizer  _ Security, I need to make a report,” he said. “This is RX-3081, I’m in Reactor Access Corridor E-17. That’s Echo-seventeen.”

_ State the nature of your report, RX-3081. _

A droid. Of course it was a droid. Nobody sentient wanted to log the routine security incidents. “I was trailed and attacked by an unknown assailant in stolen Stormtrooper armor.”

_ Do you require medical assistance? _

“I do not. But my assailant does. Have the medical team transfer him to Dr. Calla Katsuo on Deck 7, exobiology lab.”

_ Of course, sir. Anything else? _

RX-3081 thought for a moment. He figured he knew what this was. But what if it wasn’t? Still, it didn’t hurt to make a statement. “Yes, take a message. ‘Why are you sending second-rate thugs to try and kill me’.” He noticed the Stormtrooper grimace, then attempt to smile as he realized he was seen. “If I’m not honest with you, you can’t improve.” The Stormtrooper nodded and went back to wincing in pain.

_ And who is the intended recipient of this message? _

“Attach it to the incident report,” RX-3081 said. “It’ll get to the intended recipient.”

_ Of course, sir. Medical team is inbound. _

RX-3081 cut the comm and settled in to wait. It wasn’t entirely comfortable. He held one hand against the wall, wrapped around the Stormtrooper’s wrist with the blaster still in hand. The other hand was currently busy as well, putting pressure on the Stormtrooper’s chest around the knife blade both to keep the wound stable and to keep the Stormtrooper in place against the wall. The F-11D was somewhere down the corridor, Forensics would want to see it to download the tracking chip. The medical team would take time to find them.

“Was I really that bad?” the Stormtrooper asked.

RX-3081 couldn’t help it. He laughed. “Kid, I teach stalking and killing,” he admitted. “I heard you fifteen minutes ago. I pulled you down here so I could kill you quiet.”

“Then why don’t you kill me?”

RX-3081 considered it. But no, if this was Hux sending a message then killing him would be a waste. “If I’m right, then I know better.”

“What if you’re not?”

“If I’m not, then the Interrogator will need you alive.”

The Stormtrooper gulped and whimpered but stayed quiet.

RX-3081 hoped this was all of it. If he was wrong, then there might be more. This might just be the first.


End file.
